Lula makes 15 changes of ministers in his third term with the departure of Lewandowski

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will have had 15 changes of ministers since the beginning of this term, in 2023, with the departure of Ricardo Lewandowski from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP). On average, Lula changes a minister every two months and twelve days.

As Coluna do Estadão showed, the difficulty in implementing projects such as the Security PEC and the so-called PL Antifaction was one of the reasons that led Lewandowski, who handed a letter of resignation to Lula this Thursday, 8th, to leave his position.

Former president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the minister was upset with the “irrationality” of discussions about public security, which, in his assessment, tend to get worse in this election year. Lewandowski also had problems with the Civil House, which held up projects sent by the ministry for months.

While Lula does not decide on his new minister, the executive secretary of the MJSP, Manoel Carlos de Almeida Neto, will remain in the position on an interim basis. Also according to Coluna do Estadão, the president’s assistants say that he is looking for a profile similar to that of Flávio Dino, Lewandowski’s predecessor and now STF minister. The PT defends the name of the coordinator of the Prerogatives group, Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, for Justice.

Remember all the changes of command in Lula’s ministries:

Celso Sabino – Gustavo Feliciano (Tourism)

Lula fired the Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, in December 2025, after he was expelled from União Brasil, precisely for disobeying the order to hand over his position. The president made the move to appease the ruling wing of União Brasil, with an eye on supporting his candidacy for a new term, in 2026. União Brasil remains in charge of the ministry, as Gustavo Feliciano took over the position.

Márcio Macêdo – Guilherme Boulos (General Secretariat of the Presidency)

Former treasurer of the PT campaign, in 2022, Márcio Macêdo (PT) was “fried” for months by his own supporters. Deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSOL-SP) took over as General Secretariat of the Presidency and began to take care of the dialogue between Palácio do Planalto and social movements. His entry was a shift by the government to the left, after the break with part of the Centrão. The idea was to bring Planalto closer to sectors of society that have distanced themselves from the PT and the left.

Cida Gonçalves – Márcia Lopes (Women)

Lula fired the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves in May 2025. As revealed by Estadão, Cida was the target of formal complaints made by former employees of the ministry for alleged practice of moral harassment and xenophobia in the ministry. Former Minister of Social Development Márcia Lopes took his place.

Carlos Lupi – Wolney Queiroz (Social Security)

The Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi (PDT) left office in May 2025 after being pressured by a series of allegations of fraud at the National Social Security Institute (INSS). The crisis was triggered by the revelation of the billion-dollar scheme of undue discounts on retirement and pensions, investigated by the Federal Police (PF) and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU). Wolney Queiroz, who was number 2 in the department, took over the position.

Juscelino Filho – Frederico Siqueira Filho (Communications)

The Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho, handed in his resignation letter in April 2025 after being denounced by the Attorney General’s Office to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), on charges of deviating from parliamentary amendments. The case was revealed by Estadão in 2023. Frederico de Siqueira Filho took over the portfolio after deputy Pedro Lucas Fernandes (União-MA) rejected the invitation.

Alexandre Padilha – Gleisi Hoffmann (Institutional Relations)

Licensed deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PT) took over in February 2025 as minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, after Alexandre Padilha took over the Ministry of Health.

Nísia Trindade – Alexandre Padilha (Health)

Lula fired the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, in February 2025. She spent weeks being “fried” in the position before being fired. The president wanted a more political profile in the ministry, pressured by the drop in popularity, so he chose the then minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha (PT). Nísia was the third woman to leave Esplanada, which, at that time, left the team with only nine women in 38 ministries.

Paulo Pimenta – Sidônio Palmeira (Secom)

Publicist Sidônio Palmeira, who led Lula’s campaign in 2022, took over as the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat (Secom) in January 2025, replacing Paulo Pimenta (PT). Sidônio took office to reformulate the government’s communication and try to make the PT’s management more popular with a view to the 2026 election.

Silvio Almeida – Macaé Evaristo (Human Rights and Citizenship)

Silvio Almeida was fired from his position as Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship in September 2024 after allegations of sexual harassment made to the NGO Me Too Brasil came to light. Licensed state deputy from the PT of Minas Gerais Macaé Evaristo took office.

Flávio Dino – Ricardo Lewandowski (Justice and Public Security)

Lewandowski was appointed Minister of Justice and Public Security in January 2024 after Flávio Dino was appointed to a vacancy on the STF in November 2023.

Ana Moser – André Fufuca (Sports)

Former volleyball player Ana Moser, Olympic medalist in Atlanta-1996, left the Ministry of Sports in September 2023 after an agreement between Lula and Centrão, which handed over the portfolio to André Fufuca (PP-MA).

Márcio França – Silvio Costa Filho (Ports and Airports)

Federal deputy Silvio Costa Filho (Republicanos-PE) took over the Ministry of Ports and Airports in September 2023 in place of Márcio França. The vice-governor of São Paulo in Geraldo Alckmin’s last administration (2015-2018) was reassigned to the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Cooperativism and Creative Economy, created during the PT’s administration.

Daniela Carneiro – Celso Sabino (Tourism)

Lula replaced Daniela Carneiro with Celso Sabino at the Ministry of Tourism after pressure from Centrão for more space in the current administration in exchange for support for projects in Congress.

General Gonçalves Dias – General Amaro (Institutional Security Office)

The chief minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), general Gonçalves Dias, was the first minister to leave his post during the Lula administration, in April 2023. He resigned after appearing in closed-circuit TV images of the Palácio do Planalto without confronting invaders who vandalized the building in the coup attacks on January 8. General Marcos Antônio Amaro dos Santos took office in May.